Darkness Unknown (4 page)

At least he'd planted the seeds. If they didn't take, he'd have to think of some other excuse to return to the Mosely farm. A new Paladin wasn't something to be wasted; there were too few of them as it was. He had a duty to the Regents organization to recruit a new warrior. It had nothing to do with the boy's sister, much less her red hair and those adorable freckles.

Yeah, right.

 

“Get the hell away from me with those damn needles. Why don't you just slit my wrist and bleed me dry? It'd be faster and hurt less!”

At the sound of Jake's irate voice, Jarvis poked his head through the lab door and grinned. “Hey, buddy, how goes it?”

The look his friend aimed in his direction was only slightly less irritated than the one he'd been giving the poor tech who was still waiting to draw his blood.

“I'll be fine when these bozos realize I'm a Paladin, not a damned pincushion.” He begrudgingly held out his arm and let the tech apply a tourniquet.

Jarvis thought maybe Jake could use a distraction. He held out Jake's favorite laptop as a peace offering, knowing Jake spent most of his free time perfecting his dragon computer game. “Got time to do some research for me?”

Jake winced as the needle went in, keeping his eyes firmly on Jarvis. “Got nothing but time. Doc Crosby says I'll be here at least two more days until my legs are back in one piece. Why? What do you need?”

Jarvis waited until the tech had left the room. Then he handed Jake the computer, snagged a chair, and straddled it, resting his arms on the back.

“You might be too young to remember, but there used to be a Paladin here named Harvey Fletcher. He died about eighteen years ago. I need everything you can ferret out about him. No rush, though,” he added, noting the gray cast to Jake's face.

“Any special reason?” Jake let his head sag back against the pillow as if the effort to support it was too much. Having been dead the day before had that effect on a man.

“I'm pretty sure that I found his son.”

The announcement brought new life to Jake's expression. “I'll be damned. I thought you were out on mop-up.”

“I was. Damned near ended up a permanent
casualty, too. I thought I was facing one Other, but he'd brought along his fan club.”

“Bad luck, that.” Jake didn't need the details to know that it had been rough. “So how did you go from almost dying to finding a new recruit?”

“A pair of dogs found me and raised hell until their owner came to investigate. She and her brother hauled me out of the river and up to their house. I woke up there this morning, tied down to the bed and all patched up.”

“She?” Jake managed a half-hearted leer. “You have all the luck Jarvis. I wake up here getting poked with needles, while you have some beautiful woman fussing over you.”

“I never said she was beautiful.” Although she definitely was.

“She had to be better looking than Doc Crosby.” Jake frowned. “Wait a minute. How did she know to tie you down?”

“I think she was going to call the sheriff when she found me, but saw my wounds starting to close up. She's seen her brother do the same thing and knew I might not come back in control of myself. She took me in for the night to get some answers about the problems she's been having with him.”

Jake nodded. “It's bad enough when you know what's happening. I'll bet it's hell watching someone you love struggling to control untrained aggression. You gonna bring him in?”

“Eventually. For now, I offered to start teaching the boy martial arts. I figure the sister doesn't need to know that includes weapons training.”

“So what do you want me to research? Seems like you've already got everything on track.”

“I thought the boy might eventually like to know something about his father. Maybe even a picture if you can find one, something to help him feel connected to his father's legacy. Their mother evidently took it pretty hard when Harvey disappeared, especially when she turned up pregnant and no man in sight.”

“How old is the sister?”

Jarvis pictured Gwen's face in his mind. “I'd guess she's got about ten years on her brother.” Which made her fifteen years younger than himself—and way too innocent for the dark violence that made up the world he lived in.

What a damn shame.

Something in his expression must have given his thoughts away because Jake was looking at him skeptically. “So you're doing all of this for the brother, right?”

Jarvis gave in and smiled. “That's my story and I'm sticking to it.”

Jake laughed and then winced. “Damn, I keep forgetting how badly cracked ribs hurt. When are you going to see the boy again?”

“Maybe in a couple of days. First I'm going to
crash for a solid twenty-four hours before I set foot out of this place again.”

The doors behind them swung open and their Handler walked in. “Ah, Mr. Donahue. I was wondering when I'd see you. I understand that you had a rough time of it.”

“A few cuts and scratches, nothing too serious.” Anything short of dead wasn't too bad.

The doctor looked at him over the top of his reading glasses. “Right. Well, you hop right up there on the table next to Jake's and let me be the judge of that.”

Aw, hell. But there was no arguing with the medical staff. If he didn't willingly offer himself up for the doctor's inspection, the Handler would call for the guards to force the issue.

Ignoring Jake's smirk, Jarvis yanked off Chase's shirt and let the doctor run through a cursory examination.

“Someone did a good job cleaning up those cuts.”

Jarvis gritted his teeth when the doctor hit a couple of sore spots. “I'll pass along your compliments.”

“Do that. Now go get some rest, and check back in a couple of days to make sure those two deep ones have healed up cleanly.”

“Will do.” He hopped back down and pulled his shirt back on. “Hey, Doc, did you know a Pala
din named Harvey Fletcher? Died about eighteen years ago?”

The Handler frowned and then nodded. “Now there's a name I haven't thought of in a long time. He was a good man. Why do you ask?”

“Someone mentioned his name the other day. I hadn't been here all that long when he died.”

Dr. Crosby stared up at the ceiling. “If I recall, he was permanently killed in some woods near here. I had just come on board as a Handler, but I remember everybody being pretty upset about his death. No one could figure out how it had happened.”

He checked Jake's chart. “I'm going to kick you out of here, Jarvis. Jake needs to sleep, and he won't as long as you're here. He doesn't like to admit how close we came to losing him altogether.”

Doc Crosby reached over and confiscated Jake's laptop. “I'll be keeping this until you look less like death warmed over.”

Jake put up a token resistance. “Jarvis, remind me to program the dragon to eat the Doc.”

“Careful, buddy. Remember those rusty needles Doc keeps for special occasions.”

Jake frowned, but his eyes were already starting to close.

Jarvis nodded. “Thanks for everything, Doc.”

After Dr. Crosby disappeared into his office, Jarvis leaned down to whisper to his friend, “Jake, do you need anything?”

Jake popped one eye back open. “By tomorrow I'll be bored out of my wits. Come by if you get a chance, so I can beat you at chess.”

“In your dreams, buddy, but it's a deal. I might even sneak in some decent food.”

“I heard that!” Dr. Crosby poked his head back out. “Make sure there's enough for me, too, or I'll restrict his diet and eat it anyway. Jake's not the only one who gets tired of the stuff they serve around here.”

“Will do, Doc. See you tomorrow, Jake.”

“I'll try to have something for you by then.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Once he had Jake's research and time to wash Chase's shirt, he'd have all the excuse he needed to pay another call on the Moselys.

 

Snapping beans allowed Gwen an excuse to sit on the screened-in porch for a much needed rest. She settled into her grandmother's old rocker as Dozer flopped down in his favorite spot right under the ceiling fan. She smiled and reached out with her bare toes to rub his back. He groaned and rolled over to give her better access to his belly.

“Silly dog. I've got better things to do than pet you.”

That was true, but it didn't stop her from giving him a good scratch and rub. He rewarded her with
a quick slurp of his tongue before settling in for his afternoon nap.

The dog had the right idea. It was too hot and muggy to do much moving around. She eyed the book she'd set on the table, then the bowl of beans. The vegetables won, but only barely. After finishing the beans, she would put them on to simmer and fix herself another glass of iced tea. Then she'd settle into the rocker and read. She could water the vegetable garden later.

She fell into the easy rhythm of snapping the beans as she rocked. The fan kept the air moving enough to keep the heat bearable. Other than the beans, she'd planned a cold dinner of leftover fried chicken, potato salad, and sliced fruit.

A few minutes later, Dozer lifted his head and sniffed the air. He whined and lumbered to his feet. After pushing the screen door open with his nose, he headed up the driveway toward the road. What had caught his attention?

Larry came charging out of the barn to take up position next to the older dog. Both stood stock still, except for the slow wag of their tails.

They seemed curious, but not worried. Setting the bowl aside again, she walked outside onto the steps. The low rumble of a powerful engine approached, and she waited to see who was paying her a visit.

Seconds later, a muscle car eased down the last
stretch of the driveway. The driver was wisely taking it slowly. If she had a car like that, she would have parked it up on the road rather than risk its paint job and undercarriage on a stretch of gravel that had more ruts than flat spots.

It wasn't a friend of Chase's; if one of his few friends drove something that hot, he would have mentioned it. The car was all about power and speed. She thought about the pickup she and Chase shared—banged-up, rusty in spots, and all too practical—and sighed with envy.

The car nosed off to the side of the driveway and stopped by the barn. The glare of the sun off the windshield made it impossible to make out the driver, but when the door opened, her heart stuttered. Jarvis Donahue was back.

It had been almost a week since he'd walked out the door and, she'd thought, out of her life. But there he was, petting Dozer and taking the time to throw a stick for Larry before heading for her.

Lord, the way that man moved, he was all grace and lean strength. His jeans were obviously old favorites, worn at the knee and frayed at the hem. His dark blue sports shirt was unbuttoned over a white T-shirt that outlined all those well-defined muscles. Seriously yum.

“You're looking healthier than the last time you showed up.” She regretted the bit of a bite in her comment, but he could have called first. There he
was looking fine, and she had her hair pinned up in a sloppy knot to keep it up off her neck. Her clothes were clean, but that was all she could say about them.

He smiled as he rocked back on his heels. “Yeah, I haven't been chewed up and spat out in a few days now. I'm thirsty, though.”

Where were her manners? Short-circuited by her unruly hormones no doubt. “Come up on the porch and sit a spell. Lemonade or iced tea?”

“Tea sounds good.”

“Sweet or plain?”

He pulled a chair closer to her rocker and sat down, looking as if he planned to be there awhile. “Sweet would hit the spot.”

She laughed as she headed inside. “I should have guessed that, after seeing how much sugar you dumped in your coffee.”

Inside the house, she decided to run a brush through her hair. She considered a quick change of clothes, but that would have been too obvious.

After filling a couple of glasses with ice and tea, she set them on a tray, then she added a plate of homemade cookies before carrying it out to the table between the two rockers.

“Help yourself to the cookies.”

He didn't hesitate, grabbing three in one hand and the tea in the other. “Thank you, Gwen. It's already been a long, hot day.”

“Did you come all the way from St. Louis?”

He looked surprised. “St. Louis?”

“That's what the address on your driver's license said.” She blushed, even though they'd had a legitimate reason to pry into his privacy at the time.

His eyes crinkled in the corners. “I forgot you and Chase snooped through my wallet.”

Now she was both embarrassed and outraged. “You were unconscious! We were only—”

He grinned and held up a hand to stop her. “I was just teasing, Gwen. You had every right to do some checking. But to answer your question, I'm spending the summer with some friends. They live just a little east and south of here.”

“Oh.”

He gave her an odd look before turning his attention toward the dogs rolling in the dust near his car. It took her a second to realize that she was rocking as if her life depended on it. She slowed down and wished her pulse would do the same.

“So what brought you down this way?” To keep her hands busy, she reached for the beans and started snapping them again.

“I had expected you to call. When you didn't, I decided it was a nice day for a drive. Did you talk to Chase about the lessons?”

No, she hadn't. She'd planned to, but kept finding one excuse after another to avoid bringing up the subject. The worst thing was that she didn't
even know why. Knowing she couldn't afford to pay for lessons was part of it, but not the real reason. Her nights had been filled with restless dreams about Jarvis Donahue.

“He's been so busy working, I didn't want to take away what free time he has.”